An aquatic acquaintance
Have you ever slapped someone in the face with an octopus? No? Well, one seal in the open waters of New Zealand can proudly say it has accomplished that. In a viral video filmed on a GoPro Hero 7, a kayaker, Kyle Mulinder, was chilling in the ocean with some friends off the coast of Kaikoura, when he felt the big wet — and most definitely smelly — slap in the face and realised it was from an octopus that was being thrashed by a seal.
Given octopuses are a favourite with seals, the thrashing of the eight-legged creature is part of the seal’s ‘dining process’ whereby the tentacles are pulled off.
While it’s a hilarious and stunning video — one used by GoPro themselves — it’s also indicative of up-front-and-close wildlife.
Basking in the glory of his new-found Internet fame, Mulinder wants to bring international attention to the area which has actually been ecologically thriving post the earthquake.
Who’s being Bossed?
Watching families and colleagues get excited by everything Bigg Boss (both Tamil and Telugu) was interesting... but watching the masses across social media was like watching an epidemic of mass hysteria.
With the announcement of the Tamil and Telugu winners, Twitter went ablaze with #KaushalArmy tweets either praising Kaushal Manda or utterly berating him for his win. While he did get lauded by entertainment folks, like finale guest host Venkatesh and director Maruthi, one Twitter user tweeted — and I’m roughly translating here to exclude certain profanities — “ Bigg Boss is corrupt!” At the end of the day, such shows are indicative of not just behaviours inside the house but out of it as well.
Tamil Bigg Boss winner Riythvika helmed less of a reactionary uproar, though there was still some disagreement among viewers, as expected.
No, Kanye
Kanye West has renamed himself Ye. And, naturally, he went on quite the Twitter rant on Sunday night. Social justice warriors were fuelled when he tweeted himself sporting a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat with the caption “This represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th Amendment. Message sent with love.” In full fury, the Twittersphere retaliated.
My favourite response? Marlow Stern’s: “Kanye saying that he wants the 13th amendment (which abolished slavery) to be repealed and for America to stop outsourcing labour... from a private jet while wearing a Trump hat and decked out in Yeezy (made in China)... is too much confusion for me.”
Rants and ramblings across cyberspace
